Waring Outcasts
by Trixi Sage
Summary: When Harry took Sirius's place in going through the veil he wasn't sure what he expected to happen if anything. But it certainly wasn't to land just outside of Konoha as a child in the past. It certainly wasn't to become known as the traitor Sannin Orochimaru. But that's what happened. How will his friends and family in the wizarding world react to the new him when he's found?
1. Meetings and Reunions

**Waring Outcasts**

**by Trixie Sage**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto or Harry Potter series or characters.**

**Chapter One- Meetings and Reunions**

It was four days since Kakashi had regained consciouness after collapsing due to chakra exhaustion, and team 7 was in the forest surrounding Tazuna's house so the three genins could practice tree walking to help with their chakra control while Kakashi watched. Tazuna was at home today as everyone was taking a break from working on the bridge so no one was needed to protect the workers. "Naruto!" Was the horrified scream coming from Naruto's frantic teammates as they watched his fall from the tree top he had been standing on. They knew that Naruto was unlikely to survive a fall from the height he had been at however they knew that they would not be able to reach him in time even if they were to use chakra to enhance their speed, in spite of knowing this they still tried to reach him in time. However when he was about five feet from the ground a man who seemed to appear from nowhere caught Naruto. The man who was now holding Naruto bridal style calmly approached the relieved teammates stopping when he was about a foot away, and gently set a still shocked Naruto on his feet. After making sure Naruto was able to stand on his own the man turned to leave, but before he could leave Kakashi's voice stopped him. "What are you doing here Orochimaru?Why did you save Naruto only to leave? It doesn't seem to be your style. " Orochimaru turned back to face Kakashi when he heard Kakashi start to question him he sneered at Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto when they all gasped then paled in fear at the mention of his name. He couldn't believe Kakashi actually had the nerve to question him as Kakashi undoubtedly knew his reputation.

After a minute of silence Orochimaru deigned to answer Kakashi, with an audible sneer that clearly said he didn't think Kakashi was worth his time Orochimaru said, " Well Kakashi not that it's any of your business but I was passing through the area when I saw your student fall so I thought I would save him as he may provide amusement for me later on. After all he may prove to be powerful and perhaps useful to me one day. " After having said his piece Orochimaru watched the reactions of the team while thinking about how easy it was to provoke them as was proven by Kakashi growling in frustration at Orochimaru's words. Being able to scare other ninja's was just about the only thing Orochimaru enjoyed about being an S-class missing nin recently, well he also enjoyed throwing people off-balance by acting in ways they didn't expect him too. "I know you like your precious dog summons Kakashi but do you really have to behave like them?And here I thought you were a civilized person, after all growling is for the animals and uncivilized people. " Orochimaru said with a vengeance while inwardly laughing at the expression on Kakashi's face since he could discern it despite Kakashi's mask. Kakashi's team were clearly confused and frightened by how Orochimaru was acting. After all, here was Orochimaru an S-class nin insulting their teacher like a kid insults their rival. The confusing part of what was happening was that Orochimaru was not attacking Kakashi or his team nor did Orochimaru seem to have any notion of leaving anytime soon. While the frightening part was the fact that they couldn't tell what Orochimaru wanted with them however they knew that whatever he could want couldn't be good for them. Orochimaru could practically feel the student's confusion which he reveled in. Orochimaru could see the exact moment Kakashi realized that Orochimaru was purposely irritating him in order to keep him off balance as Kakashi started to compose himself putting himself in a more battle ready mentality.

Contrary to what Kakashi thought Orochimaru himself had no intentions of fighting, instead he planned on leaving as he had no reason to stay now that he knew Naruto was safe with his team. So with this thought he began to gather enough chakra to make his retreat, however just as he was about to preform the jutsu he heard a familiar sound that he hadn't heard in a long time come from directly behind him. Orochimaru spun around to face whoever it was that had apparated, while gathering more chakra in case he needed it he also took a fighting stance so he could be ready to attack or defend himself should it be required. However as he looked upon the intruder he allowed himself to relax marginally as it was unlikely that the intruder would attack since the intruder had a warm smile on his face. Orochimaru was proved right as all the sudden he found himself the recipient of a bear hug which he returned with great enthusiasm. "How?" Was all Orochimaru could get out, as Sirius let him go due to the shock that had set in at seeing his godfather again after so many years not to mention the fact that Sirius had hugged him even though he had most likely heard of the terrible acts Orochimaru had committed. Orochimaru knew that Kakashi and his team were watching the reunion avidly and with suspicion at least on Kakashi's part, but he couldn't bring himself to care as long as they didn't do anything or interrupt.

Sirius drunk in the sight of his whole and healthy godson while feeling extremely relieved not to mention grateful that he had found Harry. Sirius had truly thought that he had lost his godson for good when Sirius watched him fall through the Veil after having been pushed out of the way to the safety of the floor. Sirius had been extremely happy when he found out that the veil was merely a doorway to the hidden countries as that meant his godson could still be alive, he had immediately volunteered to join the search for Harry. Standing in front of Harry he observed how much Harry had changed in the time since Sirius had seen Harry last, while thinking about what Harry had gone through since Sirius had last seen him. He knew that for Harry it had been years since they met due to Harry somehow traveling through time after arriving in the hidden countries,. Harry or Orochimaru as he was called now had waist length silky black hair, emerald green eyes that had a yellow tint to them, a slender well muscled body, Harry also now stood at six foot one. He was wearing an emerald green tunic that went to mid-thigh which had long sleeves that were snug at the wrist, he wore black ninja pants the legs of which covered the black leather boots that went to the middle of his calf . Sirius noticed that Harry's clothes while not restricting his movements were clinging to his body, Sirius also noticed that Harry looked like he was in his early twenties despite how old Harry actually was. Sirius knew Harry had been trained to be ninja as when he had heard Orochimaru's description Sirius had thought it sounded close to what he had imagined his godson would look like when he was older. Sirius shook his head clearing it so he could answer Harry as he looked at the hostile faces of the ninjas watching them he decided to tell Harry how he found him later. Harry seemed to have reached the same conclusion as he suddenly said," We will talk about how you got here later Sirius, for now let me say I have missed you and I am happy to see you again." Harry said this with warmth and affection tingeing his voice, looking behind Harry he could see the shock, confusion, and fear the ninjas felt at Harry's actions. Sirius chuckled at the thought that his godson no matter where he goes will eventually gain a reputation, poor Harry he thought. "I missed you to Silvershadow, so how have you been since I've seen you last?'' Asked Sirius deliberately using Harry's marauder name as using Harry's current name would be too weird for him to do, he also didn't say the name Harry as he knew that his godson didn't want the ninjas watching them to know it.

For his part Kakashi was decidedly confused considering the situation he felt he had every right to be. When he first felt Orochimaru gather his chakra he thought that Orochimaru was planning on attacking, it was then that he had heard a loud crack which was followed by the appearance of a stranger. It wasn't the stranger suddenly appearing that was strange in itself, no it was the fact that the stranger hugged Orochimaru who promptly returned the hug with what seemed to be great enthusiasm. As if that wasn't enough to confuse him Orochimaru has to act more strangely by speaking with affection to the man along with allowing the stranger to hug him then live. As Kakashi thought that Orochimaru would have killed anyone who would dare to hug him, it was very confusing for Kakashi. He was confused as he didn't know that Orochimaru knew how to care for someone else; also why did that man call Orochimaru Silvershadow? Was it a codename of some kind? If so, did that mean that Orochimaru belonged to some kind of organisation? If Orochimaru did, who else did and what was the organisations goals? The thoughts of an unknown organisation which most likely consisted of missing nins with unknown goals was scary to Kakashi. Kakashi was also afraid for his team because he was sure that whoever Orochimaru cared for could only be as twisted if not more so than Orochimaru was. Not to mention, the stranger was most likely as powerful as Orochimaru if not more powerful than Orochimaru was. Kakashi knew that if he had to fight Orochimaru he would most likely lose but not before he could gain his team enough time to get a good head start on Orochimaru but if he was faced with two S-class nins he knew he would be decimated in short order and his team would be decimated with him. So he could only watch what happened while hoping that the two would decide to leave without fighting him and his team as unlikely as it seemed. Kakashi didn't think that his teammates were in any condition to leave as the three of them were frozen in fear or shock, perhaps both.

"Recently I've been better than ever, however before that I was on a long rocky road you could say." Orochimaru replied with amusement tingeing his voice knowing very well that the other ninjas would misinterpret the words, the ninjas would likely interpret his words to mean that Orochimaru was talking about having trouble with some evil plan then having his plan come together. But Sirius would understand that Orochimaru was saying that he had had a major problem that was also very hard to solve, and that he had only recently solved it . He loved scaring other ninjas, it was one of the few perks of having a criminal status anymore which he tried to take full advantage of when he could. It was one of the reasons he hadn't insisted on taking this talk some where else yet as he knew that the ninja's were scared that he and Sirius were going to kill them. "You will have to tell me what exactly has happened since I last saw you, later. However, I need to tell you that I came to ask you to come home, as all your friends miss you and want to see you again. I have also brought letters along with the unfortunate news that your parents are alive, there is more to tell you about your parents but that can wait until we are alone.'' Sirius said in a grave tone wishing that he could have waited to tell Harry about his parents later but professor Dumbledore made him swear that he would tell Harry about them the first time he saw Harry if he could, in order to get Harry used to the idea so that he doesn't kill them when he sees them. "**What do you mean my parents are alive?You mean they have been alive this whole time?I can't believe them! Do they even care about anyone other themselves?"**Yelled Orochimaru in rage while watching as Sirius flinched then sighed in what seemed to be weary relief letting Orochi know that he hadn't wanted to deliver this news, also that he had expected Orochimaru to do worse then yell upon receiving it.

"I know your parents are alive because I have seen them. I will tell you the rest of the news pertaining to the order and the events that have happened since you left later as I don't believe now is the time to tell you. The reason I even told you this much is because the leader of the Order ordered me to tell you when I first talked with you." Sirius said, to which Orochimaru gave minute nod to indicate that he understood what Sirius was referring to while inwardly seething about his abandonment by his parents. " Did my parents have a good reason for abandoning me in your honest opinion Padfoot? Do you think there is a good enough reason to abandon a child?" Orochimaru hoping futilely that his parents had a good reason for abandoning him while wondering if it's going to become a family tradition to abandon your kids, after all he had abandoned his child in order to protect the child. He snorted ruefully wondering if he actually has the right to be mad at his parents when his own kid didn't know him.

"Truthfully ? No your parents didn't have a good enough reason to abandon you. And yes I do believe that there are a few situations in which it's okay to abandon your child although, I wouldn't call it abandonment if you have reason enough." Sirius answered as honestly as he could, he could tell by the uncertain tone of voice when Silvershadow asked the second question that the answer to that question was very important to wondered if his godson had a child that he had left and was afraid that Sirius would condemn Harry for leaving his child. He hoped that if he was right Harry would tell him about it soon. Just as Sirius had decided to listen to Harry about what had happened to him to cause Harry to do the things he had as Orochimaru he resolved to listen to his godson's reasons for leaving his child, if he has one, before he would hold leaving the child against Harry. Sirius suspected that Harry did indeed have a child and that his reason for leaving the child is closely connected to the reason Harry did the terrible things he did.

"Sirius I have decided to go back with you as I don't really have anything left here anymore, not to mention I want to see my friends again so when do we leave?'' Orochimaru said suddenly realizing just how much he missed his friends along with the surrogate family he had found. Orochimaru then realized how he truly had very little to keep him in the hidden countries lately after neither his kid nor his soul mates needed him nor were they likely to want him if they found out what his relationship he had with them; that thought left him feeling hollow. He knew that his child didn't need him as he had snuck into and out of Konoha without getting caught to spy on along with, discreetly protecting and helping his child. Orochimaru knew that his child was now a gennin with a team whose jounin was a good ninja so he believed that his was in good hands and no longer needed Orochimaru's help or protection. He also knew that his mates could take care of themselves and were better of without him besides they believed him to be a traitor to the village and a criminal. No it would be best for everyone if he went back to the wizarding world.

"We will have to wait a few weeks before we can leave as there are 6 others searching for you as well so we made plans to go our own way, then meet up at the Valley of the End near Konoha. Don't worry we have ways of contacting each other along with other precautions in place in case we run into problems we can't handle." Sirius replied to Orochimaru's question smiling in happiness for the first time since Harry went through the Veil. Sirius was happy that Harry was coming back yet sad that from what he heard Silvershadow's life here was most likely worse than it was back home he had hoped that Harry would be able to be a relatively normal ninja when he first realized Harry had ended up in the past somehow. When Sirius first arrived in the hidden countries about two weeks ago he thought it would be easy to find Harry as he would just have to ask people if anyone from the outside had appeared suddenly. However it had been harder then he thought as no one had heard of newcomer appearing recently and for some reason none of the locating spells could find Harry. He and the others who had also had no luck in locating Harry, they had sat down to brainstorm how that could be which is how they came up with the theory of Harry having been sent to the past somehow after arriving in the hidden countries. After having decided that Harry if he did land in the past most likely took on a new identity then became a ninja. Sirius and the others then had looked at a stolen bingo book to see who Harry could be after which each person in the search chose to search for Harry candidates who they would meet or spy on to see if it was Harry. The others had called Sirius crazy when he had said that Orochimaru was Harry but Sirius had known in his gut that Orochimaru was Harry.


	2. Musings

**Chapter 2-Musings, Defending and Learning**

When Orochimaru heard that he and Sirius had to wait a few weeks, along with where they were meeting the others he had some very conflicting feelings. Orochimaru was about to ask Sirius if he wanted to come with Orochimaru to where he was currently staying to wait until they needed to go to meet the others, when the woman he knew to be the bridge builder's daughter came upon them. "Kakashi, I thought I would come out to see if you and your team would like to have lunch now as I have just finished it." Tsunami said distractedly, while looking around. In a few moments she spotted Orochimaru standing next to Sirius so she said, "Oh! Forgive me if I interrupted something I didn't realize you had company Kakashi, but there is enough food that your friends can join us for lunch if they want to. " Tsunami said looking sheepish because she hadn't noticed the two strangers so turning towards the strangers Tsunami introduced herself causing the two to do the same, then Tsunami repeated the offer of lunch to them. Kakashi snorted at the thought of being friends with Orochimaru, although Orochimaru was acting different than usual if the reports on his behavior were correct. Orochimaru heard Kakashi's snort which told him what Kakashi clearly thought of Tsunami's idea, so glancing at Sirius with a mischievous glint in his eyes Orochimaru graciously accepted the offer of lunch much to Kakashi's displeasure and the team's horror. As the group followed Tsunami to her house Orochimaru struck up a pleasant conversation with Tsunami which nearly caused team seven to faint with shock.

When the group reached the house they could smell pleasant scents that were coming from the food Tsunami had made. Orochimaru's mouth began to water from the wonderful smelling food, he could tell that Sirius's mouth was as watering as well. The group was immediately herded to and instructed to sit at the table, when they had all settled Sirius and Orochimaru were introduced to Tazuna and Inari. For Orochimaru it was a strange experience to eat with people who didn't seem to know his history or if they knew that he was S-class missing nin, Tazuna's family didn't seem to fear him. It was refreshing yet curious all the same as he engaged the small family in conversation. He knew team 7 was watching him as was Sirius but he allowed himself to relax more than he has in years. Orochimaru never let his guard down completely as he was dining with enemies but he let himself enjoy the friendly company and delicious meal. Sirius was surprisingly silent through out the meal, after which Orochimaru and Sirius were invited to stay at Tazuna's house much to their as well as team 7's surprise. Actually it was more like Tsunami insisted they stay at her house until they were to leave Wave country even after hearing that Orochimaru had a room at a local inn. Not being able to talk the family out of it they agreed to stay if they were allowed to help with the house along with buying food in return for the shelter. So it came to pass that Orochimaru found himself sharing a house with a team of ninjas who came from the village he had betrayed.

* * *

Sirius for his part found the whole ordeal amusing, he knew that his godson was extremely uncomfortable being in the same house with the ninjas from Konoha. Sirius had learned all about Orochimaru when he was investigating who his godson could be. Some would think that after how his godson had acted since coming to the Hidden Countries that Sirius wouldn't want anything to do with Harry, but he knew that there had to be extenuating circumstances that caused him to commit the terrible crimes Orochimaru did. Sirius theory for the reason behind Orochimaru's crimes proved true by his words an actions since they had met up again. Sirius also knows that his godson feels terrible about along with extremely guilty for the actions he most likely had little choice in commiting. So Sirius was amused by how even with his past as an S-class missing nin Harry could still charm people without meaning to, worming his way into their heart just by being friendly and taking an interest in them. He also thought it was funny how the other ninjas were so obviously thrown off-balance by how his was acting, the marauder in him was loving it.

He knew that he and Harry would eventually have to have a serious talk about what happened to Harry and what had happened in the wizarding world while Harry had been missing. But for now Sirius thought it was best for both Harry and him to get reacquainted with each other Sirius knew that Harry was now older then him however to Sirius Harry would always be his godson in his mind. He also knew that Harry needed his support right now with everything that Harry was going through, just as Sirius knew he needed Harry to care for him as Harry's godfather due to his discovery of James Potter's betrayal of Sirius. Sirius had always loved Harry as if Harry was his son, Sirius knew that Harry had grown to love and see Sirius as a father after he had found out about and got to know Sirius. So knowing that Harry still thought of Sirius as his father reassured Sirius that his life meant something to someone. Sirius knew that Harry would need reassurance that he was still a good person who was worth something. As whatever Harry had gone through had triggered the thought patterns that the Dursley's had beaten into Harry from an early age.

The Dursley's had constantly told Harry that he was a worthless freak who was unworthy of love which over time Harry believed was true, they also beat him for every imagined infraction they could. Finding out this information had been extremely difficult for Sirius as Harry had been tight lipped about his home life. However Sirius one day after having figured out Harry had been abused by putting the clues that Harry unconsciously dropped together then confronted Harry about it. Harry had denied it at first but eventually had broke down and told Sirius about his home life. After Sirius was done fuming he had started to try to undue the damage that the Dursleys had done Harry and had made progress with making Harry believe in his own worth along with getting Harry to believe he was worthy of being loved before Harry had fallen through the Veil. However now Sirius could tell that Harry was in danger of going back to believing he was worthless and unworhy of love. As no matter how well Harry could hide his emotions Sirius had found he could still read his son's emotions.

* * *

The next day saw team 7 guarding the bridge builder while discussing Orochimaru's appearance in Wave and strange behavior amongst themselves. Kakashi had already written a report to the Hokage on Orochimaru's appearance and behavior which he then sent off using Pakkun yesterday after the strange lunch. Pakkun had agreed to await a reply so he could deliver to Kakashi right away meanwhile Kakashi decided to observe Orochimaru along with Orochimaru's friend to see if he could figure out what Orochimaru's up to. Kakashi did have to wonder whether or not Tazuna's family had heard of Orochimaru as they didn't seem frightened of him, no in fact the welcomed him into their home, mused Kakashi. He decided to ask Tazuna about that later when Tazuna wasn't so busy.

Team seven were also extremely curious about Orochimaru's friend Sirius because the guy seemed like a pleasant person. So the team had to wonder what a pleasant fellow like Sirius was doing with Orochimaru not to mention how he knew Orochimaru in the first place. That was assuming that Sirius's pleasant demeanor wasn't an act. Kakashi had even managed to hold an engaging conversation with Sirius. Kakashi was also curious as to what Sirius had meant when he had said that he wanted Orochimaru to come home as Kakashi knew the man couldn't be talking about Konoha as Orochimaru did not have any friends left there that could miss him anymore. So where did Sirius plan on taking Orochimaru?Also Kakashi had to wonder about how it could be possible for Orochimaru's parents to be alive since it was a well known fact that Orochimaru was an orphan.

* * *

Orochimaru was currently in the forest behind Tazuna's house doing what had become his daily training while Inari watched on. Sirius had gone shopping with Tsunami which left Orochimaru to watch Inari, why Tsunami trusts him with Inari was unfathomable to him. That morning Orochimaru had managed to find Tsunami alone so he asked her the questions that has been nagging at him since she invited him to stay, he asked whether or not the family knew who he was. Her answer was yes, when he asked her why she had invited him to lunch then to stay at her house if she knew his reputation. Tsunami had replied that she along with her family prefers to judge a person by their present actions instead of by their past or reputation. When Orochimaru asked why they prefer to judge by present actions Tsunami said that the a person could have a bad reputation yet have it not be true, or if they have done terrible things in the past that person could change. Orochimaru knew how true what Tsunami said was, he told her this and thanked her for giving him a chance after that they started to talk about other matters.

While he knew logically that as he was possessed at the time he wasn't responsible for most of the terrible things he did he still often felt guilty. It helped that Sirius despite not knowing the exact details had told Orochimaru that he knew Orochimaru well enough to know that there were extenuating circumstances that caused Orochimaru to do what he did. Therefore Sirius informed Orochimaru that he would wait to hear what happened to Orochimaru before Sirius would shun or condemn Orochimaru. Orochimaru had seen Sirius grimace when he talked about condemning him and knew Sirius was thinking of how everyone believed that Sirius was guilty of betraying his best friend along with killing 14 people without even listening to his side of the story. He was extremely thankful for Sirius's words however he couldn't help but wonder what Sirius would say when he found out his godson had gotten himself possessed. Orochimaru felt guilty for his actions while the demon that possessed him, along with the actions he committed while he was in control of his body. For years both he and the demon that had merged with him fought for control. As they were constantly waging a war over his body Orochimaru had achieved a major victory from the start without the demon even knowing about it. Orochimaru had hidden the memories of his life before he came to the hidden countries from the later was able to achieve another major victory by learning how to enter the demon's mind and go through it without the demon detecting his intrusion.

Orochimaru remembered the times when people found out what was going on, how he had sealed those memories. He also remembered the times when he manipulated one person or another into doing something they hated to do in order to find a way to rid himself of the demon. As he trained memories of what he done when he or the demon had control flashed before him which made him wonder what he could have done different or how he could have saved more lives from being destroyed in one way or another. He pushed those thoughts away by focusing on finishing his training up for the day. After he had finished training he focused his attention on Inari knowing the boy would have questions. He was correct as soon as Inari noticed Orochimaru was done he asked about what he had seen. Orochimaru just sighed then answered the questions patiently until Inari was done which by the time Inari asked all the questions he could think of Sirius and Tsunami had returned. The rest of the day past in relative peace as after lunch everyone had something they wished to do on their own.

* * *

The next few days past in relative peace with few arguments between the house-guests as they all focused on their own various activities and commitments. Sirius and Orochimaru got reacquainted with each other. Sirius had not changed much in the month and two weeks it had been for him, meanwhile Orochimaru had not seen Sirius for years. Sirius had to get used to all the changes in his godson. It was the 11th day since team 7 had taken up residence in Tazuna's and all the ninjas and Sirius knew that something was going to happen today. As Sasuke, Naruto,Sakura, Kakashi, and Tazuna set off for the bridge Orochimaru swore to himself that he would protect Tazuna's family along with Naruto. Orochimaru had discreetly made an Kage Bushin then had it follow team 7 without being seen.

After team 7 had departed Orochimaru decided to help Tsunami around the house that day as Sirius took Inari out to play. Orochimaru had sent a shadow clone to follow and watch over Inari and Sirius, it was to stay hidden unless needed. Orochimaru wished to protect Tsunami and her family as he had grown to care for them nearly as much as he cared for his surogate family in the outside. When everyone had left, Orochimaru and Tsunami started doing the dishes while holding a conversation. As they finished the last dish and were preparing to sit down to drink some tea Orochimaru felt an enemy presence rapidly approaching the house. He instructed Tsunami to sit at the table drink her tea or at least pretend to while he would transform into his snake form and slither under the table to wait for the right time to strike as his snake form is poisonous. He told that if he needed to he would transform back and take care of the enemies that way, however using his snake form meant less chance of her being harmed in crossfire.

Tsunami watched in amazement as the man she has come to see as an older brother transform into a snake then slither under the table. As she trusted Orochimaru implicitly she gathered her tea then sat down and started to drink it calmly. She knew that Orochimaru would protect her as despite his past as a criminal she knew that he was intrinstically a good person. Which made her wonder what lead him so far astray. Tsunami also wondered if the foolish Konoha ninja would ever give up their attempts at making her believe Orochimaru was an evil person. She was jerked out her thoughts by the sound of the front door banging open, for several minutes she heard sounds of two people apparently searching for her or her son. Eventually their search lead them to the kitchen.

Standing at the doorway of the kitchen were two thugs who obviously thought they were samurai, but were in truth doing poor impressions of samurais Orochimaru thought. Orochimaru watched as the thugs approached the now standing Tsunami while preparing himself to strike. When the thugs and Tsunami were about a foot apart the thugs stopped and said, ''Come with us now, wench." Tsunami just looked at him in an appraising way and replied, "Why should I?" in a cheeky tone. The closest of the thugs made to grab Tsunami making Orochimaru still in snake form bite the thugs ankle. When the bite free thug went to help his falling partner Orochimaru bit him in the ankle as well, with in a minute both were dead from Orochimaru's poison. Orochimaru created a clone to take the bodies out to burn them while the real Orochimaru comforted Tsunami. After he was sure she would be okay Orochimaru created a clone to watch over Tsunami while he headed to the bridge where he knew there to be trouble thanks to having dispersed the clone which he had watching team seven.

* * *

When Orochimaru arrived at the edge of the bridge he stopped to observe and assess what was happening at that moment and who was winning. Orochimaru recognized Haku's ice mirror dome having hired Momochi to protect him when he had been posing as a Noble with no combat skills. Orochimaru looked farther on to see Sakura as Tazuna's lone protector, at the other end he saw Zabuza fighting Kakashi. That meant that Sasuke and Naruto were fighting Haku, so he entered the mirror dome to help Naruto and Sasulke as they were the ones who needed the most help. When he arrived he saw Naruto standing in front Sasuke's prone body facing Haku. Orochimaru could tell Naruto was close to releasing the Kyuubi unconsciously so he walked up to Naruto and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder all the while keeping one eye on Haku. Naruto turned to see who had put their hand on his shoulder coming face to face with Orochimaru. Orochimaru leaned down to whisper in Naruto's ear "Listen to me Naruto if you don't want to use the Kyuubi's chakra calm down now! If your upset about your friend he's fine, remember Haku did the same thing to Zabuza?"Orochimaru said urgently unsure whether his words would do the trick. He let Naruto go and watched with relief as Naruto seemed to calm down; Orochimaru then turned his full attention to Haku.

For Haku, she had recognized Orochimaru immediately after he entered her dome. She chose to observe him while she could as he focused on Naruto, Haku was trying to come up with a escape plan as she knew she was no match for the Snake Sannin. After Naruto calmed down the Sannin focused all his attention on her with eyes so empty she shivered from meeting them. Orochimaru smirked inward as he saw Haku shiver from her place in the ice mirror she was currently occupying, he loved seeing fear in his opponents. Orochimaru was mentally debating what to do with Haku when he heard Sakura scream. He quickly delivered a chakra enhanced punch to the mirror Haku was in breaking the ice mirror while knocking Haku out. He looked at Sakura and Tazuna to see if they were being attacked, which they weren't, he then followed Sakura's gaze and saw Zabuza about to chop a incapacitated Kakashi's head off. Orochimaru took a kunai out and threw it at Zabuza, it hit Zabuza in the shoulder just as he started to lower his sword towards Kakashi's neck. Orochimaru had started running as soon as he threw the kunai, so he reached Zabuza just after the kunai got Zabuza.

Zabuza was enraged that he had let his guard down enough that someone was able to wound him with a thrown kunai. As he took the kunai out from his shoulder he scanned for the thrower who he saw a few feet away facing him with cold, hard, empty eyes was Orochimaru the Snake Sannin. Once he saw Orochimaru Zabuza realized he was fucked as for some reason the snake sannin was intent on protecting team 7 and the bridge builder. Zabuza knew he was strong but he knew his limits, as such he knew that while he could probably hold his own for a while against Orochimaru he would lose the battle in the end especially since his weapon Haku was unconscious. Zabuza decided that he would abandon the mission and in doing so leave without fighting Orochimaru if he could. With that thought in mind, he put his sword away while watching staring Orochimaru in the eyes to make sure the snake sannin understood his message, Orochimaru seemed to get the message as he relaxed his guard the slightest bit.

Just after Zabuza put his sword away Kakashi began to regain consciousness, he stood up while looking around dazedly. When he spotted Orochimaru Kakashi remembered what the Hokage's orders were in regard to Orochimaru. The Hokage had ordered team seven to observe Orochimaru only and to try to avoid fighting with Orochimaru along with Orochimaru's friend, if it was possible. According to the Hokage, who agreed that Orochimaru was indeed behaving strangely, Orochimaru along with his friend would be heading into a trap if they do go to the Valley of the End anytime with in the next couple of months as the Hokage has stationed ANBU there to watch for them. The Hokage also informed Kakashi that he order Jiraiya and Tsunade back to Konoha so they could help fight Orochimaru and his friends. The Hokage had also ordered team seven to abandon their mission to protect the bridge builder if Orochimaru decided to kill Tazuna as team seven was no match for Orochimaru.

As Kakashi thought he was assessing the situation, he saw that Zabuza had put his sword away and was currently observing an unconscious Haku. Kakashi took a chance and turned his back on Orochimaru to check on his students along with the bridge builder. Kakashi saw that Naruto and Sakura were standing protectively over an unconscious Sasuke who was laying on the bridge behind them, while Tazuna was standing calmly next to the unconscious Sasuke. After he was assured that his students and Tazuna were safe he turned to face Orochimaru who was in the same position as before. Kakashi wondered why Orochimaru was just standing there seemingly content to just watch everyone. He wondered if Orochimaru was waiting for something to happen and if he was, what? As if his thoughts had summoned them Kakashi saw Gatou along with about twenty or so what looked to be thugs.

As he watched the others on the bridge Orochimaru sensed people approaching the bridge, none of them had enough to be ninjas. He turned so he was facing the Wave village and saw Gatou approaching the bridge with about twenty thugs behind him. Orochimaru watched as Gatou stopped approaching when he was about ten feet away from where Kakashi and Orochimaru were. Kakashi had moved to stand beside Orochimaru when he saw Gatou and his guards coming much to Orochimaru's shock. Both Kakashi and Orochimaru waited for Gatou to do or say something while watching him and his guards closely. They knew that even civilians could kill an inattentive and arrogant ninja so they kept their guard up. The situation was strange for Kakashi as he felt he could trust Orochimaru to help Kakashi protect Tazuna and his students.

"Well, well, well I see that you are nothing but a wimp Zabuza after all. It was a good thing that I hadn't paid you yet or my money would have been wasted on a worthless piece of shit who dares to call himself a ninja." Sneered Gatou in an unpleasant tone of voice. After pausing for a moment apparently to think Gatou said "Oh well, its not like I planned to pay you anyway Zabuza. As for the ninjas I hired you to take care of, I'll let my guards get rid of them. And as a reward for their service I'll let them take Haku as a slave to use as they want after they kill you.'' Gatou said in a gleeful tone to which all the thugs had laughed and caused Zabuza to become even more enraged than he had been before. Gatou then gave the signal for his men to attack which they did in short order. Before either Kakashi or Orochimaru could make a move Zabuza had reached the thugs who he had immediately started killing them using his sword. Kakashi and Orochimaru traded a look and decided to let Zabuza handle the thugs and Gatou unless it looked like he couldn't handle them as he seemed to need to get rid of some excess aggression.

It seemed that Kakashi and Orochimaru had chose wisely in letting Zabuza handle the thugs as within a few minutes the thugs had been massacred by Zabuza leaving Gatou to face the ninjas alone. Watching Zabuza had made the younger members of team seven and Tazuna feel sick at the gruesome display. While Zabuza had been killing the thugs both Haku and Sasuke had regained consciousness then witnessed the ending of the massacre. Currently Zabuza was standing directly in front of a quivering Gatou when he grabbed the collar of Gatou's business suit and lifted Gatou so that their faces were even with each other. Zabuza ignoring the fact that he had an audience then said, " It looks like your guards were the worthless ones not me, eh Gatou?So now what should I do to you?" He asked hold his sword so that the edge of the blade was sitting against Gatou's throat which made Gatou start to whimper. " You could let me go so I could pay you and I could always make you my partner. So what do you say, partners?'' Gatou said in a high squeaky voice that reflected the terror he felt.

"No I don't think I'll take you up on your offer after all killing you will be so much more satisfying for me." Zabuza said in an empty tone of voice following his words with action as he dropped Gatou then used his sword to cut Gatou's head off.

'' A fine end to Gatou's reign of power if I do say so myself." Said Orochimaru in a monotone while clapping scaring most of his companions on the bridge. After a few minutes of silence the older ninjas and Haku started to burn bodies and get rid of anything that could show a battle was fought on the bridge. When everyone was getting ready to leave Tazuna asked Zabuza and Haku if they would have dinner at his house to which they agreed after a few minutes of debate. While the older ninjas and Haku were cleaning up, the younger members of team seven were silently thinking about everything they had seen and done on that day. Each of them were thinking about how they could improve their training, or in Sakura's case start training.

* * *

Dinner that night was an interesting affair as Orochimaru informed Sirius, Inari, and Tsunami how the battle on the bridge went. He left out the gory parts for Inari's sake, however the two were thrilled that Gatou was no longer a threat despite the way it happened. Tsunami carried on an conversation with Zabuza whom she had been introduced to when he had arrived while Haku held a conversation with Naruto, Sasuke fumed and brooded, Sakura listened to Naruto and Haku occasionally adding to their conversation. However the most interesting part of dinner was that Kakashi held a civil conversation with Orochimaru, after he had finished describing the bridge battle,in which they talked about the strengths and weaknesses of various jutsus and martial arts. All in all everyone enjoyed their meal and the company for once.

When dinner was over Zabuza and Haku left but not before promising to return the next day to visit. After Zabuza and Haku left Tazuna constantly teased Tsunami about her blushing while she had been talking to Zabuza. Kakashi wrote out a mission report including his observations concerning Orochimaru. Sirius and Orochimaru talked about various things while Orochimaru started teaching Sirius martial arts. Sirius had decided he wanted to learn martial arts so that if he ever lost his wand he wasn't helpless. Sirius also wanted to learn how to use chakra and preform jutsus, but Harry had told Sirius to wait on learning them until he had a firm grasp on his martial arts style.

The next morning everyone was busy getting ready to leave, well that is team seven, Orochimaru, and Sirius were. Team seven were leaving that afternoon as they had completed their mission while Sirius and Orochimaru were leaving in the afternoon as well so they could travel to meet the rest of the search party and go home. They had about two weeks until they could leave the hidden countries. Despite the fact that two weeks was plenty of time to reach their destination but they felt it best to leave that day in case of trouble. Orochimaru was extremely unsure about having to get so close to Konoha. He didn't want to face the memories that being close to Konoha was sure to bring up.

Orochimaru was also sure that Konoha would have some plan to capture or kill him ready since Kakashi was sure to have sent a message to the Hokage about his and Sirius plans. Orochimaru was nervous about the possibly of seeing Tsunade and Jaraiya while near Konoha as the Hokage was sure to have told them to come to Konoha so they could face Orochimaru. He wasn't sure what he would do if he saw his old teammates.


End file.
